Light load for noise reduction, Your Suggestion
My wife had an eardrum replaced and has very sensitive ear canals. She wears electronic ear muffs. Her 22 pistol noise does not bother her. She shoots a 1 7/8"barrel 38 Special, S&W Lady Smith, which does bother her ears. She's tried factory FMJ 124 grain, She's tried 160 grain cast over 3.6 grains of 231, all too loud. I have two molds I'd like to try for her. Using CCI primers my first choice is a 105 (drops 108) grain swc Lyman recommends 5.1 grains as a starting load. My second is a 125 grain mold that drops at 128 grain. For the 108 grain bullet I'm thinking of loading up a test series of 2.6 grains W231, followed by 2.8 grains followed by 3.0 grains to check the noise and accuracy. Our range is a 15 yard to 35 yard range. I have heard several cases where people have shot reduced loads of 3.0 successfully but not 2.6 or 2.8 What is your opinion?